Cover Me
by Kei-chan1
Summary: When he was in Slam, Riddick killed Fry's brother. Follows Pitch Black plot, with a different relationship between the characters. [the crap really hits the fan in ch 2!]
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer:  I don't own Pitch Black… cuz if I did… I wouldn't have down some of the stuff they did in the movie ::grin::

Author's Notes:  I know… it's been done… many times… but I just wasn't  satisfied with letting it be. ::grin::  Oh well.. have fun.  This chapter is long… but that's because I've just been typing this thing like a beast.

-----------------

As the sun beat down on a dry, desert planet, a person stood in the sand, wiping sweat from her forehead.  The ruins of a spaceship loomed over her.  She sighed, staring at the hunk of twisted and torn metal that used to be the merchant vessel, Hunter-Gratzner.

"Shit," she whispered.  She was Carolyn Fry, docking pilot for the Hunter-Gratzner, now its captain.  The original captain was killed before the ship crashed, and the nav pilot, Owens... he was killed during the landing.  She was all that was left of the crew... was almost all that was left of the survivors.  A sound from within the ship caught her attention, shook her from her thoughts.  Taking one last glance at the outside of the ship, she walked back inside.

"You all right?"  A voice, mid-western by the sound of it, reached her ears.  Carolyn stared at the man who stood before her – blue eyes, curly, dark blonde hair... was that a cop badge?  She nodded to him.  "I'm Johns," the man said, holding his hand out.

"Carolyn Fry," she replied, giving his hand a quick shake.  She looked passed him, saw movement.  Walking over to a cryo-pod, she pulled some debris off the top, tore open the door that already hung half open.

A young woman crawled out of the pod, assisted by Carolyn's hand.  Carolyn knew her to be one of the prospectors that had been going on the ship.  Shazza, her name was.  "Thank you," the woman said, a distinct Australian accent in her voice.

"You're welcome," Carolyn said.  She walked back up to the cockpit, stared again at Owens body, the steel bar that pierced his heart, the pain still etched on his face.  She felt nauseated, partially responsible for killing Owens.... hell, she'd tried to kill them all to save herself, but then she wouldn't have had to look at their broken, mangled bodies... not like Owens.

She shut her eyes, remembering his agonized screams, her inability to help him.  A tear slid down her cheek.  "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Carolyn!"

She turned back to the large room where the cryo-pods were held.  Johns was calling her.  She didn't like him.  Something about him didn't seem right... she just didn't know what... yet.

"What?" she called.

"There are more survivors!"

Carolyn sighed.  Somehow... they'd have to find shelter.  She noticed outside that the sun was setting, which meant it'd be getting colder out.  She realized also that they'd have to find water... and soon.

One last glance back at Owens and Carolyn decided she'd have to do what she could to lead the survivors.  Personally, she didn't want the responsibility... but what choice did she have?  Though, she could tell already that she and Johns would be butting heads over decisions.  _I'll deal with that later._

She made her way outside, climbed up onto the ship's roof.  A dozen or so other people stood up there, staring off at the horizon.

The Australian woman, Shazza, came up to her.  "There was talk of a scouting party looking for other people, but then we saw this."

Carolyn followed her gaze, past the ship.  A deep gouge in the sand went in a vertical line from where the ship now sat, with smoking pieces of debris on either side.

"Jesus."

"What the bloody hell happened?"  That was Zeke, Shazza's husband.

"Could have been a meteor storm, might have been a real comet.  I don't know," Carolyn admitted.

"Well I for one, am thoroughly grateful," Shazza spoke up.  "This beast wasn't made to land like this, but I think you did well."  Now she addressed the group.  "Actually, the only reason we're alive is because of her."

"Yes, I suppose you're right.  Thanks very much," Paris, the antiquities dealer, said.

"Yeah, thanks for saving our dicks."  Jack, a young boy in his early teens, patted her shoulder.

"No, really, thanks awfully," Paris said again.

Shazza squeezed Carolyn's other shoulder.  "Well done."

_If they only knew..._ she thought sadly.

"We have a problem!"  Johns came running up the ladder of the ship, stopped at Carolyn.  In his hand was something that looked like a horse bit.  "My prisoner is on the loose."

"Shit!" said Shazza.

Carolyn looked at the bit in his hand.  "Who the fuck were you transporting?"

----------------

Richard B. Riddick stood staring at the large skeletons before him.  He was in a graveyard.  It was in a canyon that stretched across the surface of the planet.  The skeletons were those of huge, mammoth creatures.  Riddick silently wondered about the demise of the animals.  He turned around, smiling slightly at the two suns that had risen just as the other set.

The survivors were in trouble, he knew.  The entire planet reeked of death... and for once, he wasn't dealing it out.  He would bide his time, toy with them a little... and he knew right where to start.

He suspected that Carolyn Fry hated him.  In fact, he counted on it.  After what he did years ago while he was Slam... he knew that she harbored some strong feelings toward him... and it certainly wasn't a friendly feeling.

Singing in Arabic reached his ears.  They were on their way.  Imam... the hoodoo holy man... what a fool.  He and his... what were they?  His sons, students?  At any rate, they alerted Riddick that they were coming.  He jumped up into one of the skulls, laid down in a hollowed out crevice.  It only took a few minutes, until he heard Carolyn step right below him, sit and lean her back against the skeleton.  He dropped down silently.  The only thing separating the two of them was the rib cage of the animal.

Creeping up close to her, his shiv pointed at her neck, he got closer and closer... and then...

"Drink?"

Johns.  Blue-eyed devil.  _Thinks he's takin' me back to Slam,_ Riddick thought with a wry grin.

He watched Carolyn reach out and take the bottle.  "Probably shouldn't do this," she said.  "Dehydrates you even more."  She took a swig of the contents.

Johns nodded.  "You're probably right."  He knelt beside her.  "You could have stayed back at the ship.  You probably should have.  If we don't find water you know what happens."

"I wanted to get away."

Johns tilted his head.  "I've never seen a captain so ready to leave her ship."

Carolyn stood, handed the bottle back to Johns.  "I think we should keep moving."

"What'd Owens mean, 'bout not touching the handle?"

She looked him, her eyes wide.

"I heard him screaming after you found him.  Look Carolyn, this is between you and me."

Riddick stepped back.  Now this, he had to hear.

"During the landing, when things were at their worst, Owens was at his best.  He's the one who stopped the docking pilot from dumping the main cabin."  She looked away.  "Passengers."

"And the docking pilot being?"

Carolyn regarded Johns with a dark look.

"Well, I guess I'm a little more glad to be here than I thought."

Riddick moved close again, raised his shiv.  He went between the ribs of the animal, cleanly sliced off a lock of Carolyn's hair.  Now, he knew her smell.  It was as sweet as he expected it be.  Also, the fact that he now knew she had her own dark side could prove useful.  He moved to sneak away... but Johns had finished yet.

"One more question Carolyn."  Johns stood, rested his hands on his hips.  "When I told you who my prisoner was... you had a look of recognition in your eyes.  Was that just because you know of Riddick or is there something else?"

Carolyn stared at Johns.  Riddick listened intently.  _Don't tell him, Carolyn,_ he willed.  _He'll use it against you._  She sighed heavily.  "Riddick and I... have a slight history."

"A slight history?"

Carolyn narrowed her eyes at Johns.  No way was she telling him things he could eventually use against her.  She didn't trust him, not in the least.  "It's a long story Johns... nothing you need to know about."  She turned and began walking away, leaving Johns to stare at her.

"Damn," he whispered, then started after her.

Riddick smiled.  She didn't trust the merc... good.

The survivors had moved through the canyon now, so Riddick doubled back.  He stared at the man who sat on top of the crashed ship in a lounge chair, umbrella blocking the sun, with a bottle of booze beside him.  All he had to do was make a little noise... there... gone running.  Riddick crawled up, relaxed in the chair and watched the situation that presented itself below him.  Zeke... one of the settlers, shot a survivor.

"Crikey, I thought it was him.  I thought it was Riddick!"

Up on the chair, Riddick raised an eyebrow.  _So, he thought he'd kill me, eh?  _He saw him drag the body toward a tarp.  His blood would do quite well, especially since it seemed he had no qualms over killing Riddick.  He started toward the tarp, but Zeke had thrown it off the hole he dug out.  Riddick watched as the man began to crawl inside a hole in the wall of where he had dug out.  Then, Zeke's body began to struggle against something.  Riddick jumped up to the rocks above the hole, watched with interest.  Zeke's gun fired numerous times, and the man was screaming.  Riddick knew he was already dead... but what killed him?

"Zeke!"

Shazza.  She was running full-force toward the tarp.  Stopping abruptly as she saw the blood that was sprayed around the hole, she looked up, and saw Riddick, shiv in hand.

He turned around, ran in the opposite direction.  He was a convicted murderer, there was no use in trying to tell her that he didn't do it.  As he ran, he cast a glance over his shoulder to see if anyone was following.  When he reached a large rock sticking out of the sand, he pitched forward, found himself on his stomach.

Rolling over, he grabbed at Johns, who had tripped him.  They squabbled, until Johns tore Riddick's goggles off.  The man, momentarily blinded, struggled against his most hated enemy.

"What did you do to Zeke?"  Shazza was there, punched him the face.

He saw Carolyn run up and hold her back by the shoulders.  "Shazza!"

"Somebody kill him.  Somebody just goddamn kill him before he –"  The world went dark.

-----------------

Carolyn walked into the room where Riddick was chained up.  If he killed Zeke, then he would tell her where he hid the body... or she would kill him.  She hated Riddick more than anyone in the known universe... but she was the group appointed captain, and it was up to her to get answers out of him.

"So where's the body?"

He didn't answer.  She could feel her rage building.  "All right, Riddick, I'll be honest with you.  I despise you.  In fact, there isn't another living thing on this planet that I despise more than you.  And just so you know, there's a debate right now as to whether we should just leave you here to die."  She turned to walk away, but his voice stopped her.

"Still pissed that I killed your brother, huh?"  He watched her start to tremble.  "You still believe that he was innocent, don't you?"

"My brother was a saint," she whispered.

"Your brother raped and slaughtered over twenty women, Carolyn."

Carolyn spun around, her face crimson with rage.  "You're a fucking liar!"

Riddick shook his head.  "I'm a murderer, not a liar.  Know the phrase takes one to know one?  That's how it was with your brother.  He told me about his late night escapades... in detail."

Carolyn stood rooted to the spot.  She had always believed that her brother was innocent.  When she found out that Riddick had killed him in Slam, she believed it even more.

"Why should I believe you?"  Her voice was weak, she silently cursed herself for it.

"Why shouldn't you?"

"Show me your eyes, Riddick."  She had heard about his altered vision, but wanted to see it up close... if she could stand it.

"You'd have to come a lot closer for that," he said.

Carolyn began walking slowly toward him, her anger and hatred beginning to change to fear.

"Closer."

She looked around her, judging the distance between her and the man she had hated most of her life.  When she was just close enough, Riddick launched himself off the stool he was sitting on and lunged forward.

Carolyn gasped, leaned back.  The chains stopped Riddick before he could get to her, but she was now nose-to-nose with him.  His eyes, shining with a silver hue, stared at her own blue ones.

"Where the hell can I get eyes like that?"

They both turned to find Jack standing at the bottom of the ladder.

"Gotta kill a few people," Riddick told him.

"'Kay, I can do it."  Jack's voice held reverence and respect for Riddick, something he hadn't heard for many years.

He turned back to stare at Carolyn.  "Then you gotta get sent to a slam, where they tell you you'll never see daylight again.  You dig up a doctor, and you pay him 20 Menthol Kools to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs."

"So you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark?"

Riddick looked at Jack, an amused smile on his face.  "Exactly."

"Leave!" Carolyn said, harsher than she had meant it to sound.

Jack's smile faded.

"Leave," she repeated, this time quieter, nodding her head.  Jack climbed back up the ladder, leaving the two alone.

Riddick fixed his eyes on her.  "Cute kid."

"Is that how you killed David?" she asked.  "Waited until it was too dark for him to see you coming?"

"Do you really want to know?"  She nodded her agreement.  "You're not going to like it, Carolyn."  He moved back and sat on the stool.

Carolyn found a stool behind her, dragged it up in front of Riddick and sat down.

"I need to know."

Riddick sighed.  "He'd been in Slam for a few months.  Managed to get his own gang of rapists together.  They figured out how to sneak into the women's section, and had their way with quite a few of the prisoners.  Despite the amount of people I've killed, Carolyn... I've never touched a woman."

That surprised Carolyn.  She'd always assumed he did what he wanted to whom he wanted.

"One night, after a particularly long visit, they came noisily back to our section of Slam.  As your brother passed by my cell, he made a remark, one that I won't repeat to you.  When I caught up with him, and made him beg for his life, he admitted to me that he had, indeed, raped and slaughtered those women, and that he had his entire family – you – fooled into thinking he was a sweet, innocent, boy.  He didn't have any regrets, even when I put my shiv to his throat.  So, I killed him.  And I don't feel sorry at all."

Carolyn felt a tear slide down her cheek.  Her brother, her sweet, kind, loving brother... was truly the monster she had been told he was.  She wasn't sure why, but she believed Riddick was telling her the truth.  "I never wanted to believe it," she admitted.  "I guess, deep down, I always knew what he was.  When you killed him, I was able to hate you instead of him."

"All you people are so scared of me,"  Riddick said.  "But it ain't me you gotta worry about now.  Did I kill a few people?  Sure.  Did I kill Zeke?  No.  You got the wrong killer."

"He's not in the hole, we looked."  Carolyn wasn't sure her hatred for Riddick was gone.  Her brother may have been a horrible person, but he was still her brother.. and Riddick still killed him.

"Look deeper."

------------------

So, he was on slave duty.  Riddick grunted, hefting the cord that held the power cell over his shoulder.  Johns decided that if he let him go, and made him do what he wanted, he'd be less likely to kill them.  Riddick smiled.  If anyone was going to die on this planet, it'd be that snake, Johns.

They reached the settlement the others had discovered.  Riddick dragged the power cell to the to the ramp of the skiff that sat broken down in the sand.  Carolyn thought that by using the power cells from the Hunter-Gratzner, she'd be able to get the skiff working and they could get off the planet.  He knew it would work, but he wasn't about to tell any of them.  They didn't trust him, except Jack.

Jack... there was an intriguing mystery.  Riddick studied the boy.  He knew his secret... could tell right away.  Jack was no boy... but she had managed to fool the rest.  He had a feeling that when the time came, he'd have to betray the young girl's secret.  For now, though, he'd let it slide.

Johns had told him to go through the containers and find something to patch the wings with.  Jack had gone off to explore the settlement, Shazza, Fry, and Johns were in the skiff, adapting the power cell to the skiff, and the others had gone to get the water pump working.

He wandered off, walked to a door, tried it.  It was chained on the inside.  _Interesting,_ he thought.  _Why would the door be chained on the inside?_  Riddick began to get an uneasy feeling about the planet.  _Those creatures... something is going to happen with them._

A whistled sounded behind him.  He spun around, saw Johns.  "You're missing the party," he drawled, patted his thigh.  "Come on, boy."

Riddick turned, tore down the tarp that half covered the Coring Room doors.  A gasp made him look up.  There was Jack, her head shaved and makeshift goggles around her eyes.  _She's trying to be like me,_ he realized.  "You're missing the party, come on," he said in his best Johns' accent.

The group was in one of the rooms in the main part of the settlement.  Imam and his sons had gotten the water pump working, and they were all drinking out of glass goblets, probably supplied by Paris.

Jack walked into the room, picked up a glass.  They all stared at her, Carolyn raised an eyebrow.  "What?"

Paris shrugged his shoulder.  "It's the winner of the look-a-like contest."  He walked over to Shazza.  "Who were these people?  Miners?"

She held up a pair of tongs with a quartz-like rock held in them.  "No, looks like geologists.  You know, an advanced team, moves around from rock to rock."

"Nice of them to leave so much stuff here," Carolyn remarked.  "Why'd they leave their ship?"

The group looked around, none wanting to say anything.  Finally, after a gulp of water, Johns spoke.  "It's not a ship it's a skiff, and it's disposable, really."

"It's more like an emergency life raft, right?" Paris asked

"Yeah," Shazza agreed.  "They probably had a big drop ship take them off planet."

"These people didn't leave, c'mon."  Riddick stood leaning against the doorframe, replacing his goggles over his eyes.  "Whoever got Zeke got them. They're all dead."  He turned to look at the group.  Could they really be this stupid?  "You don't really think they left with clothes on the hooks, photos on the shelves?"

"Maybe they had weight limits, you don't know," Shazza said.

"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency," he said with some impatience.

"He's fuckin' right," Jack said, in "his" best Riddick impression.

Johns turned to him.  "Watch your mouth."

Carolyn sat up from where she was leaning on a bench.  "He's just saying what we're all thinking.  So, where are they?"

Riddick stared at her.  The only smart one of the group, besides him.  He knew she knew they were in trouble... she just hadn't voiced it yet.  He opened his mouth to explain, when Imam burst through the door.

"Has anyone seen the little one?  Ali?"

"Has anyone checked the Coring Room?" Riddick asked pointedly

At that moment, they all heard a scream.  The group ran outside, up to the Coring Room doors.  It was dark inside, and Riddick was at the back of the group.  Johns shot through the chains, pushed the door open.  Imam rushed inside, calling for his youngest son.

Riddick hung back.  Something was amiss.  He saw Imam approach a door, grasp the handles.  When he pulled it open, a burst of bird-like things flew out of it, knock the Arab backward.  Johns pulled the door shut as they flew passed.

The creatures flew up, then down what looked to be a tunnel in the middle of the room.

Carolyn looked around.  "Imam?"  She gasped when she saw the stricken look on his face as he emerged from the small room where the creatures had come from, carrying what was left of Ali.

-------------------

"Other buildings weren't secure, so they came here.  Heaviest doors."  Riddick was explaining to the others what he figured had happened to the settlers.  Johns lit a flare, tossed it down the tunnel.  It landed some fifty feet down, amid a mess of bones.  "Thought they'd be safe," he continues.  "Only they forgot to lock the cellar."

Johns, Shazza, and Fry came down to where Riddick stood.  Shazza took her oxygen pump from around her shoulder, handed it to Riddick.  "Here."

He held it in his hand, looked at her skeptically.  "What?  It's broken?"  He threw it on the floor at her feet.

"No, there's still a few hits," she replied.  "Actually, you asshole, I'm trying to say I'm sorry."

Johns walked up behind her, looked at the two of them.  "Okay, let's this place boarded up and then let's get the fuck out of here."

Riddick watched her leave.  No one had ever apologized to him before.  "Weird," he whispered.  He bent to retrieve the pump, threw it around his shoulder, then followed the others into another room.

"Whatever these bastards are, they seem to stick to darkness, so if we stick to daylight, we should be fine.  Let's go."  Johns was in hellish mood.  Riddick knew the reason.  It didn't take much to spot a Hype when you were near one.  Johns was getting to close to needing another spike, so he was getting irritable.

"22 years ago," Carolyn said, more to herself then to Johns.

"What?"

"These coring samples are dated.  The last one was 22 years ago this month."

Johns sighed.  "Okay, does that mean something, Carolyn?"

Riddick could almost see the gears working in her head.  She muttered something that sounded like "There could be," before turning and walking out of the room.  He followed with interest as she walked into a room across the settlement where a small model of the planet and its suns sat.  She moved the model along, clicking the years away.  19...20...21...22...  They watched as a large planet with rings like Saturn moved in front of the two suns, and another planet moved in front of the other sun.  An eclipse.  Carolyn moved the model a short way, noticed that the planets were moving together.

He could feel a smile forming on his lips.  "You're not afraid of the dark, are ya?"

-----------------

Carolyn walked briskly toward the skiff.  She didn't know when the eclipse was going to happen, but she wanted to be off the planet before it did.  "So, we gotta get the cells up here.  Shit.  I still gotta check the hull and patch the wings..."

"Wait on the cells."  Johns was following behind.

"Wait?  Wait for what?  'Til it's so dark that we can't see where we're going?"  He was irritating her, following her around, trying to act like he was in charge.

"You don't when it's going to happen so let's not overexcited."

She whirled on him.  "Just get the fucking cells here, Johns.  What is the discussion?"

He swallowed before answering.  "Maybe I should tell you how Riddick escaped."

She stood her ground, crossed her arms in front of her.  "I know how he escaped."

John lifted an eyebrow.  "You do?"

"Yeah.  He hijacked a transport, and killed the pilot," she said.

He walked up to her.  "Exactly, Carolyn.  He can pilot.  And, the only way you people are truly safe is if he thinks he's going free.  If he finds out – "

"You mean if he realizes we're going to royally fuck him over..." Carolyn sighed.  "Johns, he hasn't harmed any of us, and as far as I can tell, he hasn't even lied to us, so let's just stick to the plan."

Johns jabbed a finger at her chest.  "He's a killer.  The law says he has to do his bid, now there's nothing I can do about that."

Carolyn said nothing.  She knew he'd leave them there if he got the chance... but she also knew that Johns would sacrifice them all to save himself.. just like she had tried to do.  "Let's just stick to the deal," she said quietly.

This time Johns sighed.  "If we give him the cells, and the ship... he'll leave you all here to die."  He turned and walked away from her, staggering a bit.  Carolyn continued on to the ship, climbed aboard.  She had to get the hull integrity test done.  If there was a breach, they wouldn't be going anywhere until it was fixed.

She hit a few controls, shut the hatch.  A flick of a switch and she began the test.  "Thanking you," she murmured when the test started.  She pushed the pilot chair back, turned to stand up

And stopped when she saw Riddick standing in the back of the ship.  _How did he get on without me hearing him?_

"Looks like we're a few shy... power cells."

Carolyn felt paralyzed.  Here she was, stuck in a skiff with a universally known killer... one who had killed her own brother... without another person in sight.  "They're coming," she said.

Riddick took the breather Shazza had given him earlier off and hung it behind him.  "It's weird, not doing a run-up on the main drive yet," he said.  "Unless – unless he told you the particular of my escape."

Carolyn stood up.  "I already knew the quick and ugly version."  She reached over and flicked off the monitor beside her head.

"And now you're worried about a repeat of history."

"It had entered our minds."

Riddick walked up to her, stood only inches away.  "I asked what you thought."

Peering up at him, unable to see his eyes, Carolyn felt like a helpless rabbit cornered by its prey.  "You scare me Riddick," she admitted.  "That's what you want to hear isn't it?  Now can I just get back to work?"  She turned her back to him.  _That's smart,_ she thought.  _Turn your back on the guy who has a shiv sticking out of the top of his pants._

Riddick leaned in, placed his mouth right by her ear.  "You don't trust him, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"But, do you think John's is a do-right man?  You think I can trust him to cut me loose?"  Riddick was toying with her... something he was notorious for doing.

Carolyn tensed up in front of him.  "I – I don't – "

"Guess if it were trickeration he'd just x me out.  He'd kill me."  He brought his head up on the other side of Carolyn's.  "But I am worth twice as much alive."  Now he came back around, his lips nearly touching Carolyn's ear.  "You didn't know that?  Your Johns ain't a cop."  Again, to the other side.  "He's got that nickel-slick badge, that blue uniform... but he's just a merc.  And I'm just another payday."

Carolyn wheeled around to face him, something he hadn't expected from her.  "I know that... I also know he's a Hype... I'm not stupid, Riddick."

He shook his head.  "I can see that."

"But he's right.  You will leave us here to die."

Riddick moved so his face was almost touching hers.  "Haven't you already tried to kill everyone?  You know that human condition is to survive.  People always put themselves before anyone else."

Carolyn could scarcely breathe.  "How did you -?"

"In the canyon, when you were talking to Johns."

She sighed, dropped her head.  When she looked back up at him, her eyes bore the look of a desperate person.  "What did David say?  What was it that made you kill him?"

Riddick felt his anger rise a little.  _She just couldn't let it go._  "I'm telling you, Carolyn, you don't want to know."

"Yes, I do."  She was determined, he could tell... but it wouldn't end well.  If he told her, then she'd go nuts.  And if he didn't tell her, then she'd spend more time being pissed at him than getting the skiff fixed and in the air.

He backed away from her, sat on the bench along the one wall.  "Carolyn... you ain't gonna like it."

"I haven't heard much lately that I have liked," she said quietly.

Pulling his goggles off, he gazed at her with his beautiful silver eyes.  He shouldn't care.  It shouldn't matter to him if he caused this woman pain.  He killed people, many people.  Why was it such a dilemma with him?  _Because she's so much like you,_ his mind said.

"Right now... I can't tell you."

Carolyn turned and thumped into the pilot seat.  "Then don't waste my time, Riddick."

He stood up in a huff, seething with anger.  It took a great deal to get him this riled up, and this damned woman did it like it was nothing.  He pushed the anger back, replaced his goggles.  He stepped up behind her, leaned down on the chair.

"I don't truly know what's gonna happen when the lights go out, Carolyn," he said, his voice a quiet murmur.  "But I do know, once the dying starts, this little psycho-fuck family of ours is going to rip itself apart."

He turned and walked to the back of the ship.  "And you'd best decide who it is you can count on, Carolyn.  Johns ain't exactly a knight in shining armor.  The only person you got on this planet is yourself."  _And me,_ he wanted add.  _But can she?  Can she count on me?_

As the monitors on the console flashed "Hull Integrity 100%," the hatch began to lower.  Riddick took the breather off the hook and placed over his shoulder, and rode the ramp down.  Then... he was gone.

Carolyn sat in the pilot's chair a few more moments.  She sighed, let her anger at Riddick ebb away.  She desperately wanted to know... but she knew she couldn't force it out of a man who could snap her neck like a twig.  _I just hope one of us doesn't die before I find out._  Finally, she pushed the seat back, stood up.  "Time to find Johns..." she muttered.  It would be no small task, confronting an addict on his lies.

She found him in a room on the other side of the settlement, a needle protruding from his eye.  "So who are you, really?" she asked.  "You're not a cop."

Johns leaned back, threw the needle aside.  "I never said I was, Carolyn."  His voice was thick, slightly slurred from the effects of the drugs.

"No you didn't," she agreed, walking over to where his case of shotgun shells sat.  She grabbed one of the red shells, twisted the top off.  "You never said you were a hype either."

"You have a little caffeine in the mornin', I have a little morphine."

She sighed, her back still turned to him.  "Here you got two mornings everyday.  Wow, you were born lucky."  She threw the case down.

Johns sighed.  "It's not a problem unless you make it—"

Carolyn spun around.  "No, it becomes a problem when you let Owens die like that!" she cried.  "You have enough drugs to knock out a fucking mule team!"

"Owens was already dead, his brain just hadn't caught on to the fact."  Johns voice was still calm, but the sluggishness had left as the drugs took their true effect.

"Is there anything else I should know about you?"

Johns didn't look at her, instead spit.  Carolyn walked past him briskly to leave, but he caught her arm.  She froze, stared at him in confusion.  "What are you—"

"Shut up!" he snarled.  He pulled her arm around his back and pressed her hand there.  She felt her fingers touch where the skin was raised.  "Feel that?  That's from my first encounter with Riddick.  He went for the sweet spot and missed."

Carolyn said nothing.  Johns still held her hand against the scar, so she tore it from his grasp and stood before him.

"What's your history with him, Carolyn?  Huh?  Were you a bad girl before you became a pilot?  Were you two in love?"  His tone was mocking, and it made her rage rise.

"What's it to you, Johns?  Pissed that maybe he had a piece of something you'll never get?"

Johns face turned red.  He said nothing for a moment, then raised a hand and backhanded her across the face.

Carolyn stumbled back, tasted blood.  She brought a hand to her mouth.  When she pulled it away it was red with blood.  "You bastard!" she spat.

"Oh, Carolyn.  No one is around to come to your rescue.  Whatcha gonna do?"  Johns advanced on her, pinned up against the wall.  He felt energized, thanks to the morphine.  He leaned toward her.  "What was that about not getting a piece?"

She was scared shitless... but more than scared, she was pissed.  This asshole really thought he could get some, couldn't he?  _Think again, motherfucker,_ her mind said.  Picking up her foot, she brought her knee up hard into Johns crotch, sent him doubling over in pain.  She then shoved him backward hard, causing him to fall over, and ran out of the room.

Once outside, the remaining two sons of Imam came up to her, chattering something in Arabic.  "Captain, captain!" was all she could make out.  She raised a hand,  "I'm not your fucking captain," she muttered.

She took a few steps, looked up, and stopped.  _This is it... it's happening now._  At the horizon, the rings from the nearby planet were in view, and the tip of the planet was rapidly rising toward the suns.

Shazza came up behind her.  "If we need anything from the crash ship, I suggest we kick on.  That sand cat's solar."

Carolyn turned around, nodded.  "Yeah.. let's go."

"Jesus, Fry...  what happened to you?"

She had forgotten about her split lip in the process of seeing the coming eclipse.  "Oh, it's nothing, really."

Shazza didn't say anything, but Carolyn knew her mind was working.

They ran to the sand cat.  Shazza jumped in the driver's seat, started it up.

"Where's Riddick?" Jack shouted.

Paris looked at him.  "Leave him!  He wouldn't wait for us."

Just then, the body of Riddick leapt off a rock and thudded into the sand cat right beside Paris.  The antiquities dealer stood up.  "Thank god... I thought we'd lost you."

_Yeah, sure you did, you fuckin' pansy._

"Johns!" Shazza yelled.

The sand cat began moving with a lurch.  Johns burst out of the room, walking a bit gingerly, and reached the side of the vehicle.  Riddick reached down and grabbed his arm, pulled him up.  The two paused, stared at each other for a second.  Then Johns moved up to the roll bar, watched out in front of him.

Riddick didn't miss Carolyn's split lip.  He was absolutely certain it had come from Johns.  _I'll find out later,_ he vowed.  Looking up, he saw Jack sitting across from him, the goggles over her eyes.  He pointed to his right, and when Jack looked, she was nearly hit in the head by a bone from the skeleton they were driving under.

"Whoa!"  She ducked.  As Shazza drove the monstrous vehicle under the skeleton, the sand cat knocked out the delicate ribs and send the whole thing crashing to the ground behind them.  Riddick stared at the mess of broken bones.  _Now how the fuck are we gonna get this beast back over that?_

As they rumbled over the dry surface of the planet, racing against the coming eclipse, Riddick tried to figure out exactly how he had gotten to this.  Here he was, on a death planet, stuck with half a dozen other people, one being the man who was supposed to take him back to Slam, another being the sister of a man he killed.  _You certainly get yourself into some damned fucked up situations, Riddick,_ he thought.

The sand cat slowed to a stop.  Riddick leapt off the back, followed Johns and Carolyn into the crash ship.  Johns grabbed one power cell, Riddick balanced one on each of his shoulders, and Imam grabbed the last one.  They walked back out and tossed them on the sand cat.  The darkness was becoming more prominent.  Riddick looked up, saw the last vestules of sunlight being blocked out by the huge planet.  At that moment, the sand cat died just as everything became silent.

The survivors stood in silence.  The silence was over as fast as it had begun.  Whoops and screeches were heard.  They seemed to be coming from everywhere.  Riddick stared in the direction he figured the sounds were coming from.  The hollow formations that jutted out of the sand stood not more than 200 hundred yards away from them, and from the tops burst millions of the creatures that had killed Zeke, and Ali.

"How many are there?" Johns asked, but Riddick barely heard him.

He stood there, completely entranced by the swirling cloud of predators.  They flew up, making a spiral as more and more flew from the formations.  "Beautiful," he whispered, knowing no one else could hear him.  He continued to watch, even as they began to circle their way, until the annoying, grating voice of Paris P. Ogilvie cut into his thoughts.

"People, this is just a suggestion… but perhaps you should flee!"  He was standing at the doorway of the cargo container, his hands cupped around his mouth.

The survivors began to run.  Imam grabbed Johns shoulders.  "Run," he insisted.  Shazza banged the steering wheel of the sand cat in anger, screamed at the top of her lungs, "shit!"

Riddick took one last glance, and ran like hell.

He and Shazza were bringing up the rear.  The others had made it to the container, were watching them.  They ran up a bank just as Carolyn's voice reached his ears.  "Get down!" she yelled.

They dove down into the deep gouge where the ship had slid through on its rocky landing.  Shazza landed flat on her stomach, Riddick on his side.  The creatures flew over them in a stream, Riddick could feel the wind from their wings beat him in the face.  After they had passed, he lay still… knowing they would make another pass.  He glanced up, saw Shazza tense her body.  _She's gonna run, isn't she?_

As soon as he though it, Shazza pushed herself off the ground, started running.  Riddick felt the second wave coming, and just before they reached him, he turned onto his back, pressed himself into the sand.  They flew over him again, went right for Shazza.

Riddick heard Jack yelling.  "No, Shazza!  Stay down!"  _Too late, kid,_ he thought sadly.

While the things were flying over him, Riddick felt around on the ground until his hand closed around a twisted piece of wreckage.  He picked up and carefully inserted it into the stream of creatures.  He watched in morbid fascination as it shredded to nothing before his eyes.

The creatures attacked Shazza as she ran.  The tore into her with their bone-crunching jaws and razor sharp claws.  Shazza screamed painfully, even as they rendered her into two pieces and carried her off.

They were gone.  Riddick stood up, tossed away the last of the metal he had in his hands, swiped his hands together.  He walked over the Carolyn, who stood still, staring at where Shazza had been just moments ago.

"Please, I really think we should get inside now," Paris said.  He had his arms around Jack, holding her back.  "We have to be inside to close the door."  He spun around the pushed Jack inside.  "Come on, let's go, go, go!"

Carolyn turned to walk in, Riddick right behind her, but more sounds stopped them.  They both turned.  Riddick lifted his goggles from his eyes.  The hollow formations shuddered, then crumbled.  Out of their depths came huge versions of the creatures that had attacked Shazza.  They flew gracefully, wings beating slowly.

"What is it now, Riddick?" Carolyn asked.

"Like I said," he replied, a smirk on his face.  "It ain't me you gotta worry about."


	2. Secrets Come Out

Disclaimer:  Standard disclaimers apply.  I'm a college student.. who currently doesn't even have a job until I'm off the damned crutches, you really think I have anything to give if I'm sued?

Author's Note:  Sorry it took so long!!!  Well.. at least for the few people who gave me some feedback.  Thanks to all of you!  I'm finally able to get around a bit better and can concentrate on writing.

**Cover Me**

Chapter 2:  Secrets come out.

------------------

The cargo section of the Hunter-Graztner was completely dark.  Johns had turned on the spotlight on his big gauge, and Imam had a handlight.  Paris pulled an old-fashioned lighter out of his pocket, flicked it.  He tried several more times until a flame shot out of the lighter.

"She should have stayed down," Jack whined.  "If she only would have stayed down she'd still be here.  She wouldn't have died."

"Is the only light we have?  Is this everything?" Paris asked fearfully.

Carolyn's voice drifted in from the door.  "No, there's a cutting torch on the floor there, I just can't find it."  She was still helping Riddick secure the door.  As she turned to join the others, Riddick grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her toward him.  She could see nothing but two shining orbs in front of her, but knew that Riddick could see her quite well.  He raised a hand, touched her lip.

"Did Johns do that?" he asked quietly, already knowing the answer.  The hatred for the merc was apparent in his voice.

She shook her head.  "I-i-it's nothing.  He got a little out of control, but I took care of it."

Riddick growled.  "No way.  That asshole knew exactly what he was doing... and he's going to pay for it."

Carolyn stared at where Riddick was, confusion distorting her face.  "Why do you care so much?"

He was silent.  _Why_ do _I care so much?_  "I despise Johns with every fiber of my being, Carolyn.  He deserves so much more that a knee to the groin."

"Christ," Carolyn whispered.  _How the hell did he know I kneed him in the crotch?_  "You know everything, don't you?"

She thought she felt him smile.  "Sometimes," was his reply.

Carolyn turned, and with guidance from Riddick, they found the others huddled together in a hall.  "Did you find the cutting torch?" she asked.

"Not yet," Imam replied.

A thumping sound from ahead of them caught their attention, and everyone was quiet, until Carolyn remarked, "Might be a breach in the hull, I don't know."

Riddick moved to the front of the group, stared.  "C'mon Johns," he taunted.  "You got the big gauge."

"I'd rather piss glass," Johns muttered.  "Why don't you go fuckin' check?"

The fear of the situation finally got to Paris, that and the tight space they were in, and he turned and tried to run.  "I'm not staying here a moment longer," he said.

The group reacted.  Imam grabbed him by the shoulders, while Carolyn and Johns yelled at him.

"Sit him down."  Johns' voice was annoyed.

Carolyn walked up to the now sitting Paris.  She gripped him roughly by his clothes.  "You don't know what's out there!" she yelled.

"I know what's in here – " he started.  A loud clanging made him jump.  Imam had knocked a piece of panelling away and now stood beside it.

"In here!  Hurry!"

The group crawled through the opening, Paris being shoved, and Imam and Johns replaced the piece.

"Now we're trapped in a much smaller space.  I hate this!" Paris complained.  Carolyn resisted the urge to grab Johns' gun and blow his irritating little head off.

Imam sat down and leaned against the wall, and immediately jumped away from it as a claw punctured a hole in the metal inches from his head.  Everyone began talking at once, scrambling around.

Paris jumped and gasped as a flame shot out beside him.  He turned to see Riddick with the cutting torch lighting it from his lighter.  Riddick cut a hole in the wall, kicked it in, and waited for everyone to run through.  Once the group was in the much larger room, the hole was covered and reinforced with a heavy piece of wreckage.

They spread out, looking for signs of the creatures, and more light.  Riddick went off alone, using his eyes.  He rounded a corner, moving slowly, and heard a crunching sound.  Gazing up to where the sound was coming from, he saw a huge monster on top of a container having a nice meal out of one of the hatchlings.  It tore at the flesh of the mini creature, taking no notice of Riddick, who backed into the shadows to wait.

As he stood there, Imam's middle child, Hassan, foolishly walked into the sight of the creature.

Riddick leaned forward, right near the boy.  "Extremely... bad... timing," he said.

The boy stood there, frozen in fear, simply watching the thing finish devouring the hatchling.  It noticed the two standing there then, and stared down at them.

"Just... don't... run."

On the other side, Carolyn looked around.  "Riddick?" she called.

"Don't... stop... burning," he said, loud enough for her to hear.

She could hear in his voice that something was very, very wrong.  She turned to Johns, handed him the cutting torch.  "Take this," she said.

"Take that," he replied, handing her the handlight that was in his hand.  He spun and set to work burning a hole in the far wall.  Carolyn held the light up, scanned the room for Riddick.

Back on the otherside, Hassan and Riddick stood staring at the creature.  They heard a sound above them, and looked up to see a second monster right above them.

_We are screwed,_ thought Riddick.  He knew that it would only take a few moments before the stupid kid was going to try to run, and then, he'd have to figure out how he was getting himself out of this mess without getting killed.

"Hassan!"

At the sound of Imam's voice calling him, Hassan looked in the direction his father was.  The creatures above him opened their claws, lashed out with their retractable talons.  The sharp, impaling instrument scared Hassan, and he began to run, toward his father's voice, toward safety.

_There goes another one,_ Riddick thought, watching as Hassan was sliced cleanly in half by a third creature.  The one that was directly above him leapt off the container, rushed the third that had just killed the boy.  Riddick stepped out of the shadows.  He stared at the two wrestling before him, then spun around as the low growling of the other creature was heard.  It stared at him, preparing to pounce.

_It's now or never,_ he thought, bending his knees.  He took off at a run, pumping his legs as hard as he could.

By now, Johns had burned the hole in the wall, and was now armed with his shotgun.  The group had heard the ruckus, were now staring in that direction, waiting.

From around the corner, running literally for his life, came Riddick.  Johns saw the movement, shined the light from his gun at Riddick.  The light caught him in the eyes, blinding him.  He cried out, fell to the side.

Johns felt a satistfying smile grace his lips at causing Riddick pain.  The smile was gone as fast as it had come when a huge creature came around the corner after Riddick.  Johns pulled the trigger several times, following the creature as it flew up toward the ceiling.

There was silence in the moments following the gunshots.  That is, until the creature fell to the floor, causing everyone to scream.  Riddick climbed to his feet, placed his goggles back over his eyes.

"Is it alive?" Carolyn asked, creeping up to study the creature, holding her light on it.  As the group neared the creature, they noticed sizzling and smoke coming from the creature where the light touched it.

"It's like the light is scalding it," Paris remarked.  He was practically on top of Carolyn, and she resisted the urge to shove him off.

"It hurts them," she realized.  "Light actually hurts them."  She leaned forward, but when the talon of the creature twitched, she reflexively stepped back.  The group looked up as more clamoring was heard near the back of the piece of the ship.

Imam looked hopeful.  "Is that Hassan?"

Johns didn't skip a beat.  "We'll burn a candle for him later.  Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

--------------------

The group was assembled in another interior room of the container section.  They had checked for breaches in the hull, and, finding none, relaxed a little.  They had the lights setting on a wooden box, while they were sitting around it, discussing their options.

"Okay, so we have one cutting torch, two handlights, there's gotta be something we rip out of the crash ship," Fry said.

"Spirits," Paris spoke up.  "Anything over 45 proof burns rather well."

"How many bottles you got?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied, fanning himself with a Chinese fan.  "Maybe ten."

"Okay.  Johns," she said his name loud, snapping him out of his reverie.  "You got some flares."

He simply stared at her.

"So, maybe we got enough light."  _We have to get out of here,_ her mind warned.  _It isn't safe.  Gotta get off this damned planet._

At this, Johns blinked at her.  "Enough for fuckin' what?"

She took a deep breath.  _Here goes nothing... or everything._  "We stick to the plan.  We get the four cells back to the skiff, we're off this rock."

Paris stood up, crossed the group to sit on the other side of Fry.  "I hate to ruin a beautiful theory with an ugly fact... but that sandcat is solar.  It won't run at night."

Carolyn insisted.  "So we carry the cells.  We drag them, whatever it takes."  _No fuckin' way am I staying on this desert bitch of a planet longer than I have to,_ she thought.

A soft voice broke through the tension of the voice.  Jack, sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest, rocking back and forth slightly.  "You mean tonight?  With all those things still out there?"

Johns, attempting to be the voice of reason, and sounding more the coward he truly was, addressed the group.  "Okay, now how long can this last?  A few hours?  Day tops?"

"I have the impression from the model," Imam spoke up.  He had been quiet, letting the others speak, while he held his prayer beads in one hand.  He just lost another son, and didn't want to be discussing such things.  _Oh, Allah... just help me survive this..._ he prayed.  "The two planets were moving as one, and there would be a lasting darkness."

"Hmm," Johns considered it, then dismissed it quickly.  "These suns gotta come up sometime, and if these creatures are phobic about light then we just sit tight, and we let the sun come up."

Fry glared at him darkly.  _Okay, Johns... you want to be leader?  Try this on for size._  Truth was, she hated the merc.  Almost as much as she had hated Riddick until they were thrown together on the planet.  Her thoughts wandered briefly to the intimidating man who had been silent throughout the argument.  _What is it about him?  I don't understand..._  "I'm sure someone else said that, locked inside that Coring Room," she remarked.

Johns kept up his end.  "We need to think about everybody now, especially the kid," he said, pointing to Jack.  "How scared is this boy going to be out there in the dark?"

_Aha._  "Don't use him like that."

He looked at her, quietly answered, "like what?"

"As a smokescreen, you deal with your own fear."  Fry was sick and tired of Johns acting like he was the know it all and she was shit.  If she had let him be in charge, Riddick would probably already be dead... and the rest of them as well.

Johns glared at her.  "Why don't you shut your fuckin' mouth for two seconds and let me come up with a plan that doesn't involve mass suicide."  He was getting irritable.  It had been too long since his last spike, and he desperately needed one.

Fry almost smirked.  "I'm waiting."

The other man was silent, simply staring at her.

"How much you weigh, Johns?" she asked.

"What's it matter, Carolyn?"

"How much?" she demanded.

Johns sighed.  "Around 79 kilos to be exa—"

"'Cause you're 79 kilos of gutless white meat and that's why you can't think of a better plan," she shot, cutting him off.  _Take that, asshole.  One point for Carolyn._

Her insult sent his spike-needing mind over the edge.  He leapt off the seat, cocking his gun as he did so.  "Is that fuckin' right?" he cried.

He stopped when Riddick stepped forward.  Johns thrust the gun up under his chin.  "Where you goin'?"

"This solves nothing!" Imam chimed in.

All was quiet.  All eyes were trained on the two men.  Riddick casually lifted his goggles from eyes, gave Johns a "think-again" look.  Then he heard it, a metallic tapping sound, and something striking ever-so-gently at his crotch.  Johns looked down, saw Riddick's shiv tapping against his holster... right at his crotch.

He backed away, feeling more like throwing up than fighting.  "Okay," he whispered.  As he sat down, he grinned at Riddick.  _Now I know your weakness, boy,_ he thought.  He turned to Carolyn, smirked evilly at her.  "So, Carolyn, you put out for the escaped con and you think you got yourself a free ticket off the planet?"

Carolyn's mouth dropped open.  She looked from Johns to Riddick, clearly entirely clueless of what to do about his remark.  Her fists balled up at her sides, and she nearly marched over to Johns to rip his balls off and choke him with them.  Luckily, for who she wasn't sure, Riddick got there first.

Riddick stepped up to him, stared down at him, his silver eyes glowing with rage.  "Johns... you should be happy you're still alive.  I could have killed you long ago, but I didn't."  He reached down and grabbed the merc by his collar, hefted him to his feet.  "Now you listen to me you fuckin' piece of shit.  You should have killed me when you had the chance.  I told you to ghost me... but now... you're fucked.  It may not be now, but I guaran-fuckin'-tee you won't make it through the night."  He let go of Johns' shirt long enough to pull his arm back and punch him in the face, splitting his lip in the exact place he had split Carolyn's.

Johns slumped back down onto the seat, cupping his bleeding lip in his hand.  Riddick reached to grab him again, but a small, warm, strong hand gripped his arm.

"Riddick."

He turned to look at Carolyn.  She was smiling at him, her crystal blue eyes conveying her thanks.  She didn't say anything, she didn't have to.  Riddick could read her soul through her eyes.  There was gratefulness there, as well as admiration, need... and something else that he couldn't name.  The naked emotions threw him, and he dropped Johns to simply stare in her eyes.

While this was going on, the rest group could only watch in fascination.  Imam wasn't sure what to think.  His sons deaths were too near, and to watch the display of violence and insults was too much for him.  He stood up, grumbled, and walked toward the wall away from everyone, taking a hand light with him.  Suleiman, his last remaining son, glanced around at everyone, then joined.  The two knelt in prayer, speaking quietly in hushed whispers.

Jack still sat with his arms wrapped around his knees.  Just for a moment... she could be herself, without being under the watchful eye of the adults.  She detached herself from the rest, one hand unconsciously going to her stomach.  It hurt, and she was unsure why.  Maybe from having only water to drink during the day, and not eating anything.  She couldn't believe that her secret hadn't been found out.  Shaving her head definitely helped, as did her slightly flawed imitation of Riddick.  He was a survivor, and she knew that if she could model her life after anyone, it should be him.  _Oh, if my parents could see me now,_ she thought.  _Jackie, why'd you shave your head?  Jackie, why can't you act more like a lady?  Jackie, why are you always so much trouble?_  Tears formed in her eyes unbidden, and she hastily wiped them away, glancing around to make sure no one saw.

Riddick pulled Carolyn aside, away from Johns who was still holding his bleeding mouth and muttering to himself.  "Why'd you stop me?"

She sighed.  "I don't know.  He deserves whatever it was you were going to do to him, but it's like you said before.   The dying has started, and we are ripping ourselves apart.  I owe it to Owens to get these people safety.  But, I need your help."

The desperation in her eyes reminded him of how she looked when they were locked in the skiff.  "You need my help?" he echoed.

"You're the only one who can get us to the skiff in the dark.  Riddick, I need you.  Whatever happened with my brother, it's in the past, except for one thing."

A groan started in his throat, and his anger flared.  "You want to know what he said to me.  Carolyn, I told you, you don't want to know."

She turned away, growled.  Riddick could see her shoulders shaking in anger.  "God dammit, Riddick.  Don't you see?  I can't put this behind me until I know the truth!  You are the only person who knows the truth!"

He wasn't sure what compelled him to do so, but he reached out and touched her shoulder.  She turned back to him, a sheen of wetness below her eyes.  Riddick gently ran his thumbs under her eyes, wiping the tears away.  "All right," he said.

"You'll tell me?"

He nodded.  "But not here.  First things, first.  We get the group together, in working order, and we get to the crash ship.  It's time to the fuck off this sand trap."

She nodded in silence, and turned to call out to the others.  "Okay, people.  Let's get our asses in gear.  We have to get to the crash ship."

The others assembled rather hesitantly.  Johns was sitting like a wounded animal, hand clasped to his still bleeding lip.  Imam and Suleiman finished their prayer and moved toward Fry and Riddick.  Jack was standing, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his pants, with Paris standing beside him.

"We move together," Fry instructed.  She started toward the door, picked up the cutting torch as she did so.  Riddick brought up the rear, making sure everyone stayed in a tight group.

Fry opened the door, stuck the torch out first.  The sounds of the creatures were distant, seeming to echo off each other.  The group of survivors moved as one toward the crash ship, Fry leading them.  She stopped them a few meters from the ship.  "Riddick!" she whispered.

The muscular man detached himself from the group and eased up toward Fry.  His left hand shot out and found her waist, pushing her behind him.  The slight contact made her feel a hundred times better at being out in the dark.

Riddick walked forward a few feet, raised his goggles from his eyes.  He scanned the interior of the ship, seeing nothing but the twisted metal of the wreckage.  Still… he had a feeling that something was amiss.  "Looks clear!" he called out.

Trying to be a little less than a coward, Johns broke away from the rest and moved stealthily up beside Riddick, brandishing his weapon.  He moved a few steps past Riddick, and swept his light back and forth into the ship.  Suddenly, a huge creature came flying out right at them.  Johns threw himself backward, catching Riddick in the face with his shotgun.  They both fell, Johns flipping over Riddick.

"You said 'clear!'" Johns accused, staring at Riddick from across the sand.  The two were laying on their stomachs.

"I said it 'looks clear'," Riddick explained.

Johns glanced up.  "How's it look now?"

Riddick raised his head, made a quick sweep of the ship.  He turned back, raising his shoulder in a miniscule shrug.  "Looks clear," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

In the ship, the group found a sled, set it on the floor.  They put the four cells in the sled, then went about searching for more light.  Riddick instructed them on setting to work tearing out the neon blue lights that ran along the floor and ceiling.  He had Fry follow him to the cockpit where she had, only hours ago, tried to kill them all.

She shuddered involuntarily as the memories hit her… her second thoughts when Owens tried to talk sense into her, her decision to do it anyway, the relief and anger when Owens blocked the air lock doors so she couldn't dump it.  She steadied herself against the wall, letting memories wash over her and then recede back into a dark corner of her mind.  When she was stable, she pushed away from the wall to find Riddick staring at her.

"I don't know why I'm going to tell you this," he said, sitting on the floor in front of her.  "It's just going to make you nuts."

She sat down, her knees drawn up, across from him.  "Because I need to know, and it's entirely possible that I won't find out after we leave this ship."

He sighed and took his goggles off.  The words he was about to tell her already tasted bitter on his tongue, and, despite his reputation, he had no interest in causing Carolyn any more pain over her brother's death.  As he started, he kept his voice low and spoke slowly, watching for any change in her expression.  He knew that what he was going to hurt her more than anything… but she had demanded it… and she did have every right to know.

"When your brother was sent to Slam, he worked quickly to get himself a gang.  In Slam, it's really the only way to survive.  A gang, and a reputation."

"Did you have a gang?" she asked, clearly interested in Riddick's life before the planet.

He looked at her in surprise.  "No, I didn't need one.  I was always a loner, and no one messed with me.   The ones that did, didn't live long enough to gloat over it."  He cleared his throat and continued.  "Your brother built up his reputation by getting in good with a couple of the guards.  They would leave him and his gang into the women's wing once a week.  They'd go in and rape whoever they could in a matter of three hours or so."

Fry's expression began to change.  Her look of curiousity changed into that of disgust.

"One night, after a particularly… uh… fruitful evening, David and his boys were on their way back to their cells.  They were discussing an escape plan that would have worked quite nicely.  When they walked past my cell, I heard your brother say the words that made me kill him."  He paused, looking at Fry.

She swallowed hard, and closed her eyes.  "Go on," she urged, her voice cracking.

"He said, 'The first thing I'm gonna do when I get out of here is go visit my pretty little sister and show her exactly who I am.  That bitch was always so sure that I was the sweet innocent brother that could never do wrong.'  Carolyn, he said them plain as day, and I didn't mistake his words."

Her head was shaking back and forth, and she pushed herself up off the floor.  "No," she whispered.  "No, you're lying.  David would never have said that.  You're lying to me!" she screamed.

Riddick stood up, gripped Fry's arms until she whimpered in pain.  He leaned close to her face.  "Carolyn.  I am not lying to you.  Your brother was a disgusting piece of shit.  He planned to do to you exactly what he did to those other girls.  You!  His own sister!  I couldn't let him escape and do that to you!"

Fry was still shaking her head, until Riddick's last words reached her ears.  "Why?  You didn't know me… why did you protect me?"

He was silent for several moments.  "I knew who you were, Carolyn.  Before you confronted me in Slam, I knew who you were."

The truth out, he relaxed his grip on her arms.  She was looking at him, her eyes wide and disbelieving.  "How?"

"I, like the rest of the inmates, knew about the case.  It was hard to get the information, but I had a few contacts who got me the papers.  The headlines all read how you testified in court that he didn't do it.  You fascinated me, Carolyn.  And when I heard David make the comment that I knew was his truth, I had to do something."

"Did you let yourself get caught so you could be on this ship?" she asked him, still trying to digest all that he said.

"No," he admitted.  "That was purely coincidental.  After you came to see me, and you told me that you'd kill me if it was the last thing you did, I knew I had to escape.  You were the only person who ever stood up to me, Carolyn.  I can have the most giant of man shaking his boots, and you, this short, skinny woman stood up to me.  I thought you were amazing… it seems that I was right," he finished.

Carolyn stood a few moments longer, the words recocheting off every side of her brain.  _My God…_ she thought.   _David was going to come after me… and Riddick saved my life, not even knowing me…_  She stared up into his mirrored silver eyes, unable to say anything.

The tears came unbidden, and she didn't try to hold them back.  She felt her legs weaken to the point where they wouldn't support her anymore, so she just fell, would have gone straight down had Riddick not still had his hands on her arms.  She collapsed into him, sobs wracking her body.

Carolyn's reaction was a bit of surprise for Riddick, and he didn't know much what to do.  He had never held anyone before, but his arms seem to automatically go around her and pull more tightly against him.  As she cried and cried, Riddick stroked her back and head, his own thoughts whirling.  The feeling of another body against his that was alive and warm was foreign to him, but the sensation it caused was pleasant.  He held her tighter, leaning his head down to breathe in her scent.  She smelled of sweat and sun, of the sand of the planet, and of everything he had been missing in Slam.

She cried, held protectively against Riddick.  It was odd that the man who was supposed to be the bad ass murderer was the only one she felt truly safe with.  Her head was against his chest, and as she cried, she inhaled sharply.  The scent of Riddick filled her senses, swirled around her.  Manly, spicey, and totally intoxicating, she allowed herself to get lost in the aura of Riddick.  She didn't quite know what to think about all he had told her, but at least she knew now.  At least now, she could accept the monster her brother was and move on with her life.

After a few minutes that felt like eternity, her sobs subsided to just sniffles, and she pulled away from Riddick.  She gazed up at him, standing tall and strong, his hands resting on her shoulders.  "I don't even know how to say thank you," she murmured.

He grinned a classic Riddick smile.  "I do," he told her, and leaned down to capture her mouth with his.  She tasted sweet, and he was careful not to hurt her mending lip.  Fry kissed him back readily, drinking in the essence of Riddick.  He wrapped one arm around the small of her back, and caressed her cheek with the other.  One of Fry's hands gripped the back of his neck, while the other rested on his chest, directly over his heart.

They lost themselves in each other, kissing, just trying to feel something.  They had been numbed from the experience on the planet, and both wanted nothing more than to feel human again.  Riddick had been out of the universe for so long, he wasn't sure if he was even kissing right.  By the way Fry was responding, though, he guessed he was doing it correctly.

She broke off the kiss first, trying to catch her breath.  "We have work to do," she whispered.

Riddick smiled.  "Yeah, we got some people to save, and some bastard monsters to get rid of."

"I'm glad you told me," she said, as they were making their way back to the others.

"I'm glad I told you too," he admitted, laughing despite the direness of their situation.

She shook her head, but chuckled lightly at his joke.

They walked past Jack, who was coiling up the neon lights.  He lift his head to watch them, listening to their conversation.

"I'll be runnin' ten paces ahead," he said, lifting his hand to shield his eyes.  "I want light on my back but not my eyes.  And check your cuts," he added, a bit louder for Jack's benefit.  He didn't want to reveal the girl's secret, but knew it would probably have to happen.  "These bad boys know our blood now."

He and Carolyn walked out of the room, discussing the plan.  Jack stared at their retreating backs.  _This is NOT good,_ she thought.  She held her hand in front of the open end of the neon lights.  Her hand glowed back at her a crimson color.  Staring at her red hand, Jack sighed.  _These monsters are going to kill me, aren't they?_  She finished coiling the neon lights and put the thought out of her mind.  It hit her that maybe she should tell Fry, but what if Fry decided to leave her there?  She was probably a beacon to the creatures, and she'd only cause them trouble.  _No, I can't tell Fry… she'd leave me in a heartbeat._

Jack gathered the neon lights in her hands, and carried them out to the main part of the ship.  The others were already there, arranging everything on the sled.  She saw Riddick and Fry standing close, talking.

"You better find Johns," Riddick said.  "He's probably high and happy by now."

Carolyn sighed, nodded.  "I hate that asshole."

Riddick responded with a laugh.  "Who doesn't?"

She broke away from him, rather reluctantly, and went in search of Johns.  She found him in the engine room, his back pressed the wall, an empty shot gun shell rolling in his hands.

"You ready, Johns?" Carolyn asked.  When he didn't respond, she added.  "We're just waiting light here."

He snorted in disgust.  "You really think he's gonna let you guys get off this planet?  I told you, he'll take the cells, and the ship."

Carolyn smirked at him.  "I don't get it Johns.  What's so Goddamn important in your life that you're afraid of losing?  Is there anything at all?"  She turned to walk back down to the main room, when Johns' voice stopped her.

"You won't get off this rock, Carolyn.  You won't even if I have to see to it personally."

She turned to look at him, a truly wicked grin on her face.  "I'd like to see you try, you fuckin' coward."

He frowned.  He was sure that that comment would scare her.  An involuntary shudder ran through him.  She had looked just like Riddick when she grinned.  It made him nervous, would have probably scared the hell out of him, but the morphine was making coherent thoughts not sound very coherent.

Down on the main level, standing with a string of lights on his back, staring off into the black void of the planet, was Riddick.  He felt a satisfying emotion run through him.  He had heard every word Johns and Carolyn said to each, and had felt proud when she took his threat and turned it back on him.  _That's my girl…_he thought.

She came up behind him, rested a hand on his shoulder.  "You ready for this?" she asked.

"No," he answered truthfully.  He turned his head toward her.  "Are you?"

Carolyn leaned into him, kissed him gently on the lips.  "No, but, with you here, I can handle it."

He grunted, a smirk forming on his lips.  "Johns is going to try something out there," he told her.  "He'll use your secret against you."

She nodded.  "Yeah, I'm kind of expecting that."  She reached down and lifted the edge of her shirt up.  There, a shiv stuck out, looking much like Riddick's.  "I think this will make him think twice."

Riddick let out a loud laugh.  "I can't wait to see his face.  We best get moving… it's gonna be a long, hard walk to the skiff."


End file.
